Bad Blogger...

Honestly, I'm not trying to be a bad (or non-existent) blogger, it's just that life is getting in the way, and the last thing I'm doing right now, is spending time on the computer...

In three short days, Katherine will start Kindergarten, and our lives will forever change. I am taking every opportunity to spend every possible second with her and make wonderful memories before we make this enormous transition. Each day while Caleb is napping, we do something special together, which means that I'm not blogging...

Every day for the last week and a half, we've been trying to fit in every possible activity under the sun, and I have a million pictures to upload and edit. I'll post them soon, but won't spend the time until she's in school... Today we went to Adventureland with my mom, brother, and niece (Morgan). The kids love going with Isaac as he takes them on all the "cool" rides that their ever expanding mom can't.... Little Katherine funny for you --- She really wanted me to go on the bumper cars with them today, but obviously I couldn't.... So she says to me, "Mommy, please come on the bumper cars with me. I'd love for you to come". When I explain to her that I can't because of the pregnancy and the bumps my belly would endure.... She then says, "Oh come on Mommy. You take your belly every where else, why can't it go on the bumper cars"? AAAAHHH, I just had to laugh... She's so cute, and really, in her mind my belly has taken on a life of it's own!

Speaking of which, she now has a new nickname for me. Oh, and how wonderful it is.... About two weeks ago, I was walking out of my scrapbook room and she says to me, "Come on, Big Tummy, let's go scrapbook together". It totally cracked me up, and now she calls me that all day long. Big Tummy. That's what I am in her mind. She loves sitting around wondering what her little brother will look like and feeling him kick, but me.... I'm just Big Tummy to her! LOL.

Tomorrow we are heading up to Ankeny with some of our neighbors to hit the splash park which the kids LOVE. It's this great little water park with water EVERYWHERE! I'll post pictures soon, as it will truly be our "last day of summer". Wednesday we'll probably go to either the zoo or Science Center, but need to be home early as Katherine has a "meet the teacher" type thing at school that afternoon.

AAAHHHH, how I'll miss her.

I'll leave it at that.... I'll miss her. Everything about her. I'll miss her laughter, her energy, her tender heart and strong spirit. I'll miss our conversations, our inside jokes, our incredible bond. I'll miss her. Everything about her. And quite honestly, I don't want to share her with "strangers" that many hours out of our day. I don't want our life to change. I don't want to face the inevitable......

In a nut shell, that's the main reason I've been avoiding this blog lately. I really haven't been able to think about it, much less write about it. It's incredibly difficult for me. It's so hard knowing that she's starting this journey without me. Knowing that there will be difficult times ahead of her, and I won't be able to protect her. And, on top of being a difficult situation in the first place, I'm sure my pregnancy hormones are getting the best of me...

Oh, totally random, and basically just something for me to rant and rave about... I decided that at least for some days, she can ride the bus with the neighbor kids, as Caleb will be napping and I'll have a new baby to contend with. (I won't go into my long-winded, over-protective, and OCD tirade I have with the bus -- no seat belts, she'll be riding with much older kids, etc...). However, when I got the bus schedule today I nearly passed out. We live about a mile from the school and it will take OVER 30 MINUTES for her to get home. That's. Not. Cool. With. Me.... especially when our neighbors in the backyard get home 20 minutes before that... So, since it's one thing I can control, I'm calling the school and "requesting" (in the typical way I request something that is non-negotiable) that her bus route be changed. So that's on my "must do" list for tomorrow...... I'll report back, but really, we all know how this one will end up....